ONLY ON 3: Roy Williams in Wilmington; says latest 'junk' not a distraction

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- University of North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams says he is focused on his team and not the latest allegations of academic impropriety by a former player.

Williams was in Wilmington today for a luncheon with the local chapter of the Rams Club Educational Foundation.

During an exclusive interview with WWAY, Williams said he expected during his Q&A session at the luncheon to get questions about "the junk that's going on," but that he would ignore them and move on to other topics. Williams was referring to the allegations by Rashad McCants, a member of the Tar Heels' 2005 NCAA Championship team, that he rarely went to class and had tutors who did his work for some classes during his time at Chapel Hill.

It's the latest allegation in a string of academic scandals involving the school's athletic department.

"I didn't go to class and ... I didn't write papers," McCants said.

In a recent interview with ESPN's "Outside the Lines," 2005 championship team member Rashad McCants says he took bogus classes designed for athletes at UNC.

"This wasn't an athletic accusation, this was an academic truth," McCants remarks.

He says he should receive some sort of award for not receiving a proper education.
The former player's claims leave coach Williams shaking his head.

He said, "It's a bunch of junk, and that's all I'm gonna leave it at."

At the luncheon Monday, he says accusations like this have become all too common.

"We've had a distraction for a couple of years now," Williams said. "You're almost used to it so that makes it even not a distraction. You know we're trying to focus on the kids."

In the meantime... Williams says his current players are hitting it hard in the classroom.

"We'll have everybody on our team in second session summer school so we'll have the best pickup games that are going on in this part of the country the next five weeks," Williams said

For now Williams just wants to focus on the upcoming season and growing as a team.

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